Tractor mounted cotton chopper



R. NEEL 2,516,794

TRACTOR MOUNTED COTTON CHOPPER 4 Sheets-Sheet l July 25, 1950 Filed Dec.10, 1945 Inventor Key JKPe &, B QM 402 3:

lim

R. NEEL TRACTOR MOUNTED COTTON CHOPPER July 25, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Dec; 10, 1945 Inventor E0; Weed,

y 1950 R. NEEL 2,516,794

TRACTOR MOUNTED COTTON CHOPPER Filed Dec. 10, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Z9mm WWW July 25, 1950 R. NEEL 2,516,794

TRACTOR MOUNTED COTTON CHOPPER Filed Dec. 10, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 a IA- 5. f" a ML" I x9 .9 Neck WWW HMZ#W V Patented July 1950 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE} 2,516,784 TRACTOR MOUNTED COTTON CHOPPER Boy Neel,Colorado City, Tex. Application December 10, 1945, Serial No. 634,018 3Claims. (01. 91-15) This invention relates a farm tractor to render ituseful as a cotton chopper.

The primary object of the invention is to facilitate the chopping ofcotton by the use of an ordinary farm tractor by the simple expedient ofconnecting certain parts of the chopper attachment to the frame of thetractor and certain other parts of the chopper to the power take-oil andthe power lift ordinarily constituting the conventional equipmentcarried by mudern farm tractors.

Another object of the invention is to gauge the depth to which thechopper blades operate and to compensate for rough and uneven terrainover which the device is being operated so as to insure uniformchopping.

The above and other objects may be attained by employing this inventionwhich embodies among its features at least one rotary chopper movable inan are which lies perpendicular to the direction of travel of thetractor to which the device is attached, a drive sprocket for the rotarychopper movable in unison therewith, means to establish drivingconnection between the sprocket and the power take-off of the tractor.gauge wheels for limiting the downward movement of the rotary chopperand means yieldingly to urge the chopper downwardly and the gauge wheelsin contact with the terrain over which the device is being driven,

Other features include means connected with the chopper and the powerlift of the tractor for elevating the chopper out of ground contactingposition when the device is being transported from place to place.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the rear end of a tractor showing thisimproved cotton chopping attachment applied thereto,

Figure 2 is a side view of Figure l on an enlarged scale,

Figure 3 is a rear end view of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional view takensubstantially on the line 4-4 of Figure l, and

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the linel-l of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a tractor designated generally IIis provided with the usual drive wheels H, rear axle L3. power take-ofl.shaft l3 and a power lift comprising oppositely extending crank arms i4which project transversely of the machine as illustratedin Figure l andare to an attachment for 2 provided at their outer ends with the usualcranks having square ends ll.

Bolted as at It to the under side of the axle i2 is a frame designatedgenerally ll comprising a pair of side bars I! which lie in spacedparallel relation and are Joined at their rear ends by a cross bar I!and intermediate their ends by a transversely extending bar 20. It willthin-be seen that the frame I1 is of substantially rectangularconfiguration with forwardly extending side bars which lie beneath theaxle I! of the tractor to form the main supporting frame of the device.As illustrated in Figure 2 the side bars II are upwardly offsetintermediate the bars I. and II as at 2i and secured to the underside ofthe cross bar It is a suitable bearing block 22 which aligns axiallywith the power take-ofl shaft it.

Mounted on the frame ll in advance of the oil'set portion Ii'is a gearcase 23 housing a con ventional set of variable speed transmission gearswhich are controlled in a conventional manner by a suitable gear shiftlever 24. A drive shaft for the transmission gears extends forwardlyfrom the gear case 23 in axial alignment with the power take-off shaftl3 and carries at its forward end a universal joint 25 to which a stubshaft 26 is connected. This stub shaft carries at its forward end asocket 21 which is internally splined to fit the external splinesconventionally carried on the power take-oil shaft l3 and this socket isclamped in place on the shaft i3 through the medium of a suitable setscrew 28.

Extending through the rear endof the gear case 23 is a driven shaft 29the rear end of which is Journaled in the bearing block 22 previouslyreferred to. Secured to the shaft 29 between the rear end of the searcase 23 and the bearing block 22 is a pair of sprockets It and II thepurpose of which will be more fully hereinafter explained.

Secured to the underside of the frame il in spaced parallel relation aretransversely extending inverted channels I! reach of which is providedadjacent opposite ends with longitudinally spaced openings for thereception of the legs of U-shaped hangers I3. Pivotally supported in theU-shaped hangers 33 are shafts 34 upon which drive sprockets 35 and 38are mounted for rotation. Sprocket I! is connected through a suitablesleeve 31 with a sprocket 38 which is adapted to rotate in unison withthe sprocket I! about the shaft 34 on one side of the Whine and mounteddrive chain 4i establishes driving connection be.-

tween the sprocket 3i and the sprocket 3i. Inasmuch as both sprockets 3|and ii are driven by the shaft 20 it will be apparent that the sprocketsg 4 that the choppers will be held downwardly under yielding pressure tothe proper cutting position above the surface being traversed which isgoverned by the position of the gau wheels I. When rough terrain isencountered the gauge wheels will serve to preserve the choppers ll inproper relation to the surface despite the fact that the arms 42 mayswing orbieularly about the axes of the shafts 3|, Due to the fact thatthe axes of the sprockets 3i and SI and their respective sprockets 38and ll are coincidental with the axes about which the arms .2 swing it adrive chain 4. establishes driving connection between the sprocket 8iand the sprocket 45 on the opposite side of the machine. It will thus beseen that when theshaft 20 is set into motion the choppers II will bedriven in unison.

Ciamped by suitable U-bolts to each arm 2 is a forwardly extending clampbracket ll carrying at its forward end a clamp socket 50 in which astandard I .is adiustably supported. This standard ii is provided at itslower end with a forwardly extending arm "which is provided adjacent itsforward end with a laterally extending spindle 53 upon which a gaugewheel to is rotatabiy mounted. It will thus be seen that by adjustingthe standard Ii vertically in its respective bracket El the distancebetween the axis of each chopper It and the ground over which the deviceis operating may be regulated.

. Pivotally connected to suitable st project tractor As illustrated theupper ends of the coil I springs a bear against the undersidcs of thelevers 60 so as to urge the push rods 56 downwardly and hold the arms 42and attendant mechanism in close proximity to the surface beingtraversed under yieldi Pressure. As illustratedin' Figure 2 the crankarms I! are of rectangular conilgurationso as to present a flat surfaceagainst which the lever arms ll bear so that when the power lift isoperated the arm ill will move in unison to elevate the wheels '4 andtary choppers ll' out of ground contacting position.

In operation it will be understood that as the power take-off shaft llisrotated the power will be transmittedthrough the universal joint II tothe gears inthe transmission case 23; The speed of rotation of thedriven shaft 20 will be governed by setting the lever It w mesh theproper gears within the housing 13 and the sprockets II and 3! willbeset in motion at the proper speed to drive the choppers 48 in unisonon opposite sides of the machine and about axes parallel with thedirectionof travel of the tractor il. 'Due to the'pressure of thesprings 58 on the outer ends of the arms ll upon which the' rotarychoppers 46 are mounted it will seen the 34. -the device without havingthe gauge wheels 54 will be obvious that no loss of driving power to thechoppers will be experienced irrespective of theposition of the arms 42about the axes of When it is desired to transport contact the surfacebeing traversed the power lift Il may be operated toplevate the rearends of the arms I so as to exert a lifting power on the rods 5' whichin *turnwill. elevate the outer ends of the arms l2 so as to move thegaugewheels i4 and the choppers 48 orbicuiariy about the axes of theshafts 3 and lift them clear of the ground. The device may be readilyattached or detached to the rear end of a tractor by disengaging thearms ID from the crank arms I! of the power lift it, loosening the setscrew II and removing the bolts It and it will-t u be seen that atractor attacliment is provided which may be easily and quickly attachedordetached to a tractor according to the desire of the user. While inthe foregoing there has been shown and described the preferredembodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changesin the details of construction, combina tion and arrangement ofparts maybe resorted to without departing. from the; spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

What I, claim is:

"laA cotton chopping attachment for a farm' tractor of the type having apower lift and a power take-oflZJsaid attachment comprising a pair ofarms carried by the' farm tractor to move about spaced parallel axes invertical arcs which lie behindsaidtractor and perpendicular to the lineof advance thereof. a rotary chopper mount-f ed on each arm to rotate ina circular pm; which lies paraliel'to the are through which itsrespective arm moves, means establishing'driw; ing' connection betweenthe power take-on of the tractor and the rotary choppers, and a gaugewheel adjustablycarried by each arm directly in the line of advance ofits respective rotary chopper to regulate the depth to which itsrespective chopper operates and. to cause its respective chopper tofollow closely the contour of the face over which it operates.

l 2. A cotton chopping attachment for a farm tractor of the having apower lift and a power take-oil, said attachmentcomprising a pair ofarms carried by the farm tractor to move about spaced parallel axes invertical arcs which" operates, coupling means connected to each arm andto the lift of th tor-(or simultaneously lifting both arms luludupwardmovement of thfiojver lift and elevating the rotary choppers andjghugewheels clear of the ground and yie1ding=rneans carried by. each couplingmeans to exertyielding pressure on-its respective arm when the'powerlift is lowered.

3.'A cotton'chopper attachment for a farm tractor of the type having apower lift and a power take-01f, said attachment comprising a horizontalframe detachably coupled to the rear axle housing of the farm tractor,said frame extending reartvardly from the tractor, laterally spacedgroups of aligned bearings carried by the frame, said'bearings lyingbelow said frame. shafts in saidbearing lying along spacedhorizontalaxes which lie parallel to the longitudinal axis ofthetractor, arms carried by said shafts and extending radially therefromtoward opposite sides of the tractor, arotary chopper carrled bylthe endof each arm remote from the shaft, means establishing driving connectionbetween the power take-oil of the tractor and the rotary choppers, abracket mounted on each arm intermediate the ends thereof, a gauge wheelad- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the dieof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 666,337 Harris May 19, 19081,111,665 Jones Sept. 22, 1914 1,397,344 Boland Aug. 9, 1921 1,828,615Pearce- Oct. 20. 1931 2,228,035 Haas et al. Nov. 26, 1940 3,340,657Goertzen Feb. 1. 1944 2,362,689 Yates et al. Aug. 14, 1945 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 13,649 Denmark Sept. 5, 1910 411,154 FranceJuly 2, 1914 116,361 I'rance Nov. 4, 1931

